Juror speaks out about Paul Novak guilty verdict

Saturday

Oct 5, 2013 at 2:00 AM

MONTICELLO - Two star defense witnesses for wife murderer Paul Novak might have been mistaken, said one juror after a Sullivan County jury convicted Novak of first-degree murder. So how could that jury set Novak free based on their testimony? This, according to the juror, is what was discussed behind the closed doors of the jury chambers of the Sullivan County Courthouse as the jurors sifted through seven weeks of testimony during two days of deliberation. The Times Herald-Record obtained an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the sensational trial after that juror spoke out hours after the verdict.

Steve Israel

MONTICELLO — Two star defense witnesses for wife murderer Paul Novak might have been mistaken, said one juror after a Sullivan County jury convicted Novak of first-degree murder.

So how could that jury set Novak free based on their testimony?

This, according to the juror, is what was discussed behind the closed doors of the jury chambers of the Sullivan County Courthouse as the jurors sifted through seven weeks of testimony during two days of deliberation.

The jury found Novak strangled his wife, Catherine, set her western Sullivan home ablaze to cover up the killing and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance payments.

The Times Herald-Record obtained an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the sensational trial after that juror spoke out hours after the verdict.

Moments after the 12-member jury found Novak guilty of first-degree murder, arson, grand larceny and insurance fraud, defense attorney Gary Greenwald expressed shock at the verdict. He wondered why the jury wasn't sold by one of the star witnesses.

“I have no concept how they can find him guilty in light of Mr. Decker's testimony,” he said.

Thomas Decker, Novak's landlord, testified that he didn't see Novak's accomplice-turned-prosecution witness, Scott Sherwood, enter the Long Island home the night of Dec. 12, 2008, to help mix the chloroform Novak planned to use on Catherine. Decker also said he never saw Novak return home the next morning after he drove to the tiny hamlet of Lava to kill Catherine – the implication being he never left Long Island.

Decker said he was watching the Discovery Channel show “Gold Rush” on that night in 2008 and would have seen or heard Sherwood.

Problem was, said the juror, “Gold Rush” didn't air until 2010.

“So he could have been mistaken (about the entire night),” the juror said, adding “The reason we asked to look at the Decker testimony twice is that we had to be certain he was capable of being mistaken.”

The defense also placed a lot of emphasis on the testimony of Novak's 13-year-old daughter Natalie. She also said she didn't hear anyone arrive at Novak's home on the night of Dec. 12, 2008.

“But she was coached as coached can be,” said the juror.

But it wasn't just the apparent unreliability of those witnesses that weighed heavily on the jury. It was the weight of the entire prosecution case.

“You couldn't necessarily take (Novak's ex-girlfriend) Michelle's (LaFrance) testimony or Sherwood's,” another juror said. “But taken all together with everything else, it all added up.”

In fact, while several jurors told the Record that one crucial factor in their verdict was the fact that Sherwood's wife said Novak told her he killed Catherine, the jurors also considered what Novak and other witnesses didn't say.

Sherwood, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, did say that while they were in prison, Novak told him to write a police statement discrediting LaFrance, so Novak would be set free. Plus, in written jailhouse correspondence between Sherwood and Novak, Sherwood wrote, “I am getting the feeling that I am going to be ... (an expletive for being convicted) and you are going to skate.”

But something was missing from all that correspondence, the juror said.

“The one thing Novak didn't say is we don't have anything to worry about because we didn't do this.”

sisrael@th-record.com

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